The Internet provides an avenue for electronic commerce where a potential buyer may shop for a product from one or more suppliers. This process may be simplified through a website which provides product quotes from several suppliers. Quote information may include price, types of payment accepted, shipping options and rates, taxes and other information herein referred to as terms and conditions. Pricing for products usually varies among suppliers, depending on cost to the supplier, shipping, storage, financing or other conditions. As such, the offered price for the same product is different among suppliers. Further, there may be secondary marketing companies that perform only a sales function and do not stock products. These marketing companies then obtain products from a supplier that maintains stock of the product. The marketing company charges a price higher than the cost of the product from the stocking supplier in order to pay for marketing activities and to earn a profit. Marketing companies may also provide bundling where products from more than one supplier are offered as a group. For example, a marketing company may offer a circuit breaker and accessories (e.g. wire, circuit box, circuit panel) as a group.
A supplier supplying products to a marketing company likely also offers the product for sale. The price of the product sold through the supplier may be different from the price for the product sold through the marketing company. As such, the marketing company or supplier may desire that the identity of the supplier not be revealed when the product is sold through the marketing company.
Further, a company may market the same product through different channels. A full page magazine advertisement may be expensive to produce, such that the offering price of a product in a magazine may be higher than the offering price for the same product sold through a website. In order to maintain the magazine price for the product, the supplier may choose to remain anonymous when selling the product through a website. Similarly, a supplier may sell products through a retail outlet and through the Internet. Prices at the retail outlet would likely be higher than prices offered through the Internet due to the costs of maintaining a retail store. The supplier may wish anonymity for Internet sales to help maintain retail outlet prices.
It is therefore desirable that a method of electronic commerce be provided where suppliers may sell a product through the Internet without revealing the identity of the supplier